


Not My Dog

by sentencefragments



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Military, Dogs, F/M, also apparently this turned into a, idk how that happened, there are dogs involved okay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-16
Updated: 2016-10-16
Packaged: 2018-08-22 19:55:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8298470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sentencefragments/pseuds/sentencefragments
Summary: Oliver's lost his dog.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hojitae](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hojitae/gifts), [everythingilove](https://archiveofourown.org/users/everythingilove/gifts).



> for my faves. pug obsessed nora and serial-prompter jo. love you guys.

 

“Uhm… That’s not my dog.” Oliver said dryly, tilting his head a little to get a better look at the chubby, heavily panting thing of a dog currently sitting on his porch. He’d just come home from driving around town, hanging up posters to help him find his dog. Upon his return he found Roy on his front step, and a dog that was definitely not his.

“Are you sure?” Roy asked, shoving his hands into the pockets of his hoodie.

Oliver sighed and nodded. “Yeah I’m pretty sure I know what Steve looks like.”

“He’s a pug.” Roy deadpanned. “This is also a pug.”

Rolling his eyes at Roy’s ignorance, Oliver sighed again. “Yes, but Steve still misses a leg, remember? This one still has four. And it looks nothing like Steve, anyway.”

Roy shrugged as if he didn’t just pick up a random dog off the street. “It was wondering around the neighborhood, I just figured it was him.”

“Well, it’s not.” Oliver replied, gesturing at dog that was more fat rolls than actual dog, as she looked up at him with those big sad brown eyes and mewled. Even if it wasn’t Steve, she was darn cute. Oliver’s hand got a life of its own and reached out to pet the shaking dog.

The dog squeaked and sniffed Oliver’s hand. He automatically held it open like he’d learned in puppy training. It was supposed to show them you weren’t a threat or whatever. Considering the dog knew as little about him as he knew about the dog, Oliver figured he’d take precautions, trying not to spook the shaking thing even more. 

“Roy, you kidnapped someone’s dog.” Oliver stated dryly.

Roy threw his hands up in exasperation. “I was just trying to help, man.”

“Thea sent you out here to help look for him, didn’t she?” Oliver asked, already knowing the answer, His sister loved that dog. Roy kept silent for a moment.

“Maybe.” He muttered before turning on his heel and heading for his truck.

Oliver reached over to check her collar for a name or an address. Nothing. The colorfully beaded collar was now more of a fashion statement than something with functionality.

“I think she got scared and got stuck somewhere. Looks like her name tag has been ripped off. Poor thing.” He muttered, more to himself than anyone else.

“Hey, where are you going?” Oliver demanded when he looked up to see Roy was heading off.

Roy shrugged. “Home, it’s getting late.”

“What about the dog currently sitting on my porch? That you brought here?” Oliver called after him, getting a little annoyed.

“I don’t know man, figure it out.” Roy replies, throwing up his hands and getting into his truck.

Oliver sighed, watching Roy drive off before he turned back to Not-Steve. “Well, I guess it’s just you and me then.

* * *

 

This dog was nothing like Steve. She was calm, and expectant and a little shy. But, the more time she spent with Oliver, the less nervous she appeared to be. He pet her regularly, fed her the good kind of dog food that Steve only got on special occasions. She wasn’t running around all happy and excited like Steve usually was, barking at everything that moved and chasing his own curly little tail, but Not-Steve was definitely not less affectionate. At around 11pm, three hours into their time together, Oliver was watching TV when she started barking at the screen. Oliver had kind of been distracted, not really paying attention to what he was watching. Not-Steve’s owner must be a massive nerd because Oliver had been channel flipping for so long he’d ended up on the British channels and Doctor Who was currently showing. Not-Steve sat down in front of the TV, satisfied with her current predicament. Oliver didn’t dare change the channel again. This show was actually kind of fun, he realized a few minutes in.

However, the day had been exhausting, and it didn’t take Oliver to doze off on the couch. He woke up to an explosion on the screen, to find Not-Steve with her head in his lap, curled up against him. She looked up with those sad brown eyes and Oliver couldn’t help petting her. The dog closed her eyes and growled happily.

“This is not so bad now, is it?” Oliver mumbled. More to himself than to the dog, running his fingers over the soft fur between her ears. She barked appreciatively, leaning into Oliver’s side.

In the middle of the night Oliver woke up from a nightmare, cold sweats down his back, to find Not-Steve curled up against his side again. How she’d made it into his bedroom or hauled her chubby little body onto his bed, he had no idea, but he didn’t mind the affection she was showing him. It was nice to have a cuddle with the fluffy thing, even if it wasn’t Steve. He was almost sad he had to go find her owner the next morning. She’d be a fun sister for Steve.

* * *

 

After breakfast the next day, Oliver called the pound again, hoping they had any news about Steve. They did. They found a pug fitting Steve’s description late last night. Relief washed over Oliver, and he immediately called off the search party, delivering the good news to his sister, who was over the moon.

He’d adopted Steve almost two years ago now, when he was just a puppy. He’d been born with just three legs, so nobody wanted him. He was the last of the batch of puppies to get adopted. Oliver had just returned from his tour in Afghanistan and had just settled down in Ivy Town instead of his hometown of Starling City. He wanted a fresh start. Somewhere quiet. He got a job as a chef in a local diner and life slowly got back to normal. His therapist suggested getting a dog for some company, that it could help with processing his experiences overseas. The very next day he started searching online. It was love at first sight when he met little three-legged Steve. It seemed like fate. They both had their burdens. Oliver his PTSD, Steve missing an extremity. They would help each other.

So, when Steve got lost, Oliver was really scared. He was scared his trusted sidekick wouldn’t be able to help him if he got a nightmare –which luckily happened less often now- but also that he wouldn’t make it back home safely. The relief he felt when he called the pound that morning was grave.

“So now what are we going to do with you?” He asked Not-Steve rhetorically.

The dog tilted her head at him, squeaking a little.

Oliver leaned down to pet the dog’s head. Picking her up, not completely trusting her to stay home by herself, he took her with him to the pound to pick up Steve. He put her on one of Steve’s extra leashes before letting her out of the car.

* * *

 

Together they walked into the pound, Not-Steve patiently sitting next to Oliver on the floor as he explained to the receptionist what dog he was looking for.

“I called this morning about a lost Pug. They said they found one that was brought in last night?”

The girl at the front desk nodded eagerly and called in one of her colleagues to go get the dog in question.

Oliver nervously tapped his fingers on the desk as he waited for what was hopefully Steve. It was. As soon as he saw his loyal companion, Oliver crouched down to greet him. Steve hobbled towards him as fast as his three legs could carry him.

“Hey Buddy, I missed you.” Oliver said, scratching the dog behind his ears. Steve barked happily at his owner. The girl handed Oliver the leash Steve was on and that was it, he could take his dog home.

The drive home was interesting. Steve and Not-Steve had to get used to each other which resulted into some territorial behavior but soon they were cuddling on the backseat.

As soon as they got home, Oliver put up an ad on his social media and local online bulletins and even printed out posters to put up at shelters in the area. He got a few calls over the following couple of days, but it took Not-Steve’s probable owner little less than a week to find Oliver’s contact info.

* * *

 

The knocking on his door pulled him out of his thoughts. Both dogs spurted to the front door, one a little bit awkwardly than the other, barking excitedly at the visitor outside. It must be Not-Steve’s owner. Oliver stood up from his seat behind his laptop and walked over to open the door. He had to Shoo away the dogs a little so he could even get to the door, opening it just a crack so they couldn’t slip out in their excitement. They ran off back into the house chasing each other’s tails. On the other side of the door was a tiny blonde woman smiling up at him from behind thickly framed glasses.

“Hi, I’m here about the dog you found?” She asked, pushing her glasses up on the bridge of her nose.

“Yes, of course! Come on in.” Oliver said, stepping out of the way so she could come inside.

“I’m Oliver, by the way.” He introduced himself, extending her his hand as he closed the door behind her.

She smiled, shaking his hand. “Felicity. Felicity Smoak.”

“Nice to meet you. They’re around here somewhere.” Oliver said, guiding her into the living room, whistling quickly in an attempt to call over Steve. Only seconds later, the two pugs came barreling back into the room. Oliver heard Felicity’s sharp intake of breath before seeing her crouch down to meet her dog.

“Beta! Hi baby!” She squealed as the pup barreled towards her and started licking her cheeks.

“I missed you so much girl. I was so worried about you.” She murmured to the dog as she scratched her behind her ears. When she looks up at him, his breath gets stuck in his throat for a second as their eyes meet. He can’t exactly put a finger on what it is about her, but there was something that intrigued him about this girl, and not just that she was beautiful.

“Thank you so much for looking after her.” She said to him with a smile on her face.

“We just moved here to Ivy Town, she doesn’t really know the area yet. She could’ve gotten seriously hurt.”

Oliver nodded at her. “No problem. A friend brought her here thinking it was my dog.”

“He got lost too?” Felicity asked, looking back up at him.

Oliver nodded again.

She smiled a little and chuckled. “Just our luck, we would’ve never met if it wasn’t for these two troublemakers.”

Their eyes meet again and there’s that feeling welling up inside him again too. What is she doing to him? Oliver crossed his arms over his chest and cleared his throat, breaking the moment between them.

“So, Beta, huh? Where’d that come from?” He asked, in an attempt to keep the conversation going. That seemed to spark something inside her. Her blue eyes lit up and she smiled a little brighter. She stood up, turning around to face Oliver.

“The term beta test comes from an IBM hardware product test convention, dating back to ancient punched card tabulating and sorting machines. First there was the Alpha test for preliminary functionality and small scale manufacturing feasibility. Then came a beta test, by people or groups other than the developers, to verify that everything works the way it was supposed to. And that is way more information than you asked for. I’m in IT.” She explained eagerly, moving her hands as she talked. It was adorable.

Oliver let out a short chuckle. She looked up at him with those beautiful blue eyes from behind her glasses and he just couldn’t not smile at her.

“Sorry, I babble when I’m nervous.” She blushed a little.

“I make you nervous?” He asked.

She blushed even brighter, the redness spreading down her chest –not that Oliver was looking at her chest-, ducking her head and fidgeting with the bottom of her button-down shirt. “Well, you’re certainly a special kind of yummy specimen.”

Oliver’s eyebrows flew up to his hairline just before her face scrunched up in embarrassment.

“I said that out loud, didn’t I?” She whispered.

“Yup.” Oliver stated, a smirk on his face.

“Well, I think that means it’s time for me to gracefully exit before I embarrass myself even further.” Felicity mumbled, tucking her bottom lip between her teeth.

Smiling, Oliver winked at her. “You’re cute.”

That made her blush again, to Oliver’s delight. They said their goodbyes, but Beta and Steve weren’t really ready to separate yet. It appeared they had taken quite a liking to each other, and Felicity had to pick up Beta, and struggle holding her as she tried to get down, so she could put the dog in her Mini Cooper. She waved at Oliver standing on the porch as she put her car in rear and maneuvered her way onto the street.

When the little red car was out of sight, Oliver went inside and picked up his cellphone.

‘Would you wanna get coffee sometime? -O’ He typed out, thumb hovering over the send button as he hesitated before quickly pressing send before he could change his mind.

About twenty minutes later, his phone dinged.

‘I love coffee. –F’


End file.
